The Penderwicks at Markleeville
by BluGhost
Summary: One year after Point Mouette, the Penderwicks, Hound, Jeffery, Alec, and Hoover are visiting Markleeville, way up in the Sierras!


The Penderwicks in Markleeville

By BluGhost

"Hound's going to barf again!" Batty warned in a panicked voice from her booster in the backseat.

"Not again!" Skye exclaimed, twisting around in her seat to peer at the family pet. Hound was indeed about to puke- he was retching, snout pointed at the floor.

"Pull over, Daddy!" Jane screeched from Skye's left, right in her ear.

"Ouch! Good grief, Jane, watch where you're yelling, you're so-"

"Daddy, pull over there!" Rosalind told him, pointing out the window from the passenger seat. Mr. Penderwick, looking very flustered, quickly yanked the wheel to his left, but the car had already passed the small area where they could've pulled over. The car was heading straight off the road- never a good thing, especially up here in the twisty Sierra Nevada roads.

All four sisters screamed as the car veered off course. Mr. Penderwick quickly yanked the wheel right again, and they were back on the road, going straight again. Well, as straight as it could get, seeing as they were on the twistiest road in the entire kingdom of twisty roads.

"Sorry, girls!" Mr. Penderwick called. The sisters calmed down, and the car was in peace- for another thirty seconds, at least. Before long, gross retching and splattering sounds came from the back seat. The girls groaned.

"He puked!" Skye groaned in unison with Batty- something that rarely happened. Jane peered over her shoulder to inspect the mess.

"My books! Hound puked- on my books, my precious books!" Jane wailed miserably. "What am I supposed to read?! What am I going to _do?" _

"Jane, calm down, for Pete's sakes, they're just books-" Skye started in an exasperated tone at the same time as Rosaline and Batty. The car erupted in chaos once more.

"Oh, Jane, honey, it's fine, we'll-" This was Rosalind speaking.

"You can have my-" All three sisters were cut off by their father.

"Girls, girls- calm down, calm down!" When the noise wasn't as terrible as before, he continued. "Jane, we can clean your books. The puke probably didn't even reach the pages. Besides, we can get you more in town. Also, you four, ignore the smell until I can find a place to pull over." He stopped talking and concentrated on the road, clearly closing the subject.

"I guess…" Jane mumbled, slumping back against the seats. Skye smirked, and then quickly tried to hide the look, resulting in an oddly twisted frown. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice. Batty started stroking Hound, still in the backseat. Rosalind sighed and opened her thick book again and began to read.

Once again (hopefully for good) the car's peace was restored to normal. Skye was reciting prime numbers in her head, Jane was peering dreamily out the window (most likely thinking up a new Sabrina Starr book) , Rosalind was still reading, and Batty was 'talking' with Hound. From the front seat, Mr. Penderwick checked his watch. It was 3:23- they were running mostly on schedule.

Where were the Penderwicks traveling? To Markleeville, _California._ On the other side of the continent! They had been planning to return back to Point Mouette this summer, but plans had changed when Alec traveling to a small town up in the Sierras. Mr. Penderwick did some research on the place, and soon the decision was made. The Penderwicks would be vacationing in Markleeville- and, of course, Jeffery. A hired driver had taken him up the high mountains the afternoon before- his mother, Mrs. T-D (as the sisters liked to call her) didn't like the idea of him traveling in a car with 'that easily distracted father of _theirs'._ Alec, along with Hoover, would come down- or up, depending on how you look at it- and join then at the town in a week, a bit less than halfway through the trip. As for Iantha and Ben, they were staying home in Cameron until the last four days of vacation- Iantha didn't want to pull Ben away from the comfort of his home for too long.

About fifteen minutes later, a rest stop came into view. It was tiny, with only a gas station and grimy-looking hotel. It was surrounded by redwood trees, and the view was wonderous, though only Rosalind seemed to notice it. The rest of the sisters all jumped out of the crowded car as soon as Mr. Penderwick pulled over. While Rosalind stood taking snapshots of the mountainous scenery, Skye made a beeline to the gas station. She was planning to use the restroom and maybe buy a candy bar (probably a small one she could eat before her sisters noticed what she had). Jane leapt to the trunk of the car and started to inspect the damage of her books- thankfully, as Mr. Penderwick had predicted, none of the pages had been damaged, just the covers. He began to help her wipe them off as Batty started playing Fairies with Hound on a fallen log.

A while later Skye had come back from the gas sation, Rosalind had taken enough snapshots to satisfy herself, Batty had let out her energy, and Jane's books were clean.

"All right, girls, let's continue with our trip," Mr. Pendewick said as everyone buckled themselves in. He started driving again.

"How close are we?" Jane asked him.

Mr. Penderwick took a quick glance at the GPS "We're due to arrive in about...thirty to forty." All the sisters cheered except Skye- how was she supposed to endure being trapped in this metal with her crazy family for that much longer when they had already been driving for so long, without going nuts?

Luckily, Skye didn't go crazy, and neither did anyone else- though the drive, if possible, got even wilder. Throughout the next half hour or so, there were at least three small breakouts of fights within the younger three sisters (luckily they all ended soon, thanks to Rosalind), Batty had to use the bathroom twice, and Jane freaked out, thinking she left her suitcase of clothes at home.

The chaotic drive, though, as everyone later agreed, was worth finally arriving in Markleeville at about 4:15. The town was small and cute, with just a main road and few resitental ones, plus some private property. On the main road were a few small shops- including a bakery, small boutique, and general store-, a post office, and a tiny medical building. Giant redwood trees shaded the roads as the Penderwicks' car drove down them, and Batty later swore she saw a family of foxes on the side of them.

"What's the address of the cottage again?" Mr. Penderwick asked, peering over the dashboard as the sisters watched the view go by.

"Three eighty one Mountain Sound Court, Daddy," Rosaline said, turning to him

"What kind of a name is Mountain Sound- there's our turn!" Skye said suddenly, pointing out her window. Mr. Penderwick quickly responded by turning the car. They were now on a small road with a few houses scattered here and there.

"There's three eight one!" Batty anounced, pointing straight ahead. She looked slightly proud of finding their house. Mountain Sound had turned out to be a dead end road, and the cottage they were staying at was at the end of the road. It was two stories tall, white with sky blue trim, and had vines climbing up its side.

(I'll add some more of the chapter soon- I've got to go work on homework. Like I said, this story will be slow-going)


End file.
